Leading Change Management with Empathy

Trust Barriers from Disengagement Hinders Change

“People won’t trust you to lead them if they sense that you care more about yourself than you do about others” explain Frances Frei, UPS Foundation Professor of Service Management at Harvard Business School, and Anne Morris, entrepreneur and the executive founder of the Leadership Consortium, in their HBR article, “Begin with Trust.” This attitude is common among ambitious leaders who are analytical and driven to learn. Why? Frei and Morris explain that many leaders are impatient with those who aren’t similarly motivated or who take longer to understand a concept or problem, for example. Imagine a meeting in which ambitious leaders are engaged in the beginning but lose interest quickly. They check their phones or multi-task once they grasp the concepts and have contributed their ideas. Can you relate to this? Disengagement signals a loss of interest or caring. Give the impression that the meeting is beneath you, and you communicate that co-workers matter less than you do, and your relationships may take a hit. This weakens your ability to collaborate with colleagues, crucial during digital transformation.

Below are practical ways to build trusting relationships that you can apply to lead change management with empathy.

Curiosity and Listening Build Empathy and Trust

Leading change management with empathy helps you build trust, and understand people’s resistance to find ways to work through it. Strengthen your engagement with people and take an interest in them. Daniel Goleman, internationally renowned psychologist, and award-winning author of Emotional Intelligence, explains that taking an interest in people’s concerns helps you spot cues to their experiences and thoughts. When we’re curious, Goleman explains, we engage with others and learn about their perspectives. Stop and pay attention: Listen for the words being said and the feeling behind them. Curiosity and deep listening are considered two of the six habits of highly empathetic people as defined by the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Open your mind, allow curiosity to take center stage. Honing your listening skills and learning to sense unspoken emotions will strengthen your ability to empathize, establish rapport and engage with people.

Empathy and Engagement for Effective Collaboration

Leading change management with empathy helps you get people on board and collaborate effectively. Giving group settings a richer purpose will allow you to expand your role and level of engagement and earn you trust. Frei and Morris suggest shifting your attention from what you need to what everyone needs. Another way to increase engagement is to take responsibility during meetings or workshops by doing your share of moving the dialogue forward. Practice active listening skills to stay engaged until everyone in the room understands what’s being discussed. Be sure to put your phone to the side to avoid the temptation to multi-task and seem distracted.

What are your biggest challenges with leading change?

Have you tried using empathy to drive change forward?

Take care,
Helena

References:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/empathy

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_habits_of_highly_empathic_people1

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/empathy-key-effective-leadership-daniel-goleman/

https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/active_listening

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/empathy/definition

https://hbr.org/2020/05/begin-with-trust

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